Sidallow: Sih-DAL-low

This is part one of Sidallow Apocalypse, formatted for the VCL.  It's 
not quite done yet, there has to be some major revision or rewriting 
done, but the events are there.  It's a sci-fi fantasy story I wrote in 
high school, and didn't quite finish, but will some day.  It's got 
spooge too, so hands off, minors.  (What was I when I started to write 
this, 15?)

Prologue
--------
     
	There are many worlds other than our own.  Some are similar to 
ours, while some unique.  The universe that this story tells of has an 
Earth, much like our own.  On this Earth, technology has progressed 
identically to the technology of our own.  And on this Earth, religion 
strayed little from the religion of our Earth.

	Evolution however, has taken a drastically different course 
than we are familiar with (and a result of).  Humans never came to be, 
and in their stead, were felines, canines, rodents... Virtually all 
mammals evolved into sentiency, save our own ancient ancestors.  They 
have developed bipedal forms, opposable thumbs, speech, all things 
familiar to humans.

	However they have also retained much of their previous forms, 
such as tails and fur.  And although this civilization has existed for 
a comparable amount of time to our own, it may soon reach its utopian 
state.  However it may also be doomed for damnation...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

     	The pure white light was shining, not in the way that light 
shines, but in the way that a mind shines.  Shike watched it slowly 
pulsate, growing in intensity from dim to nearly blinding, all the 
while emitting a low hum.  It was one that could more be felt in the 
pit of her stomach rather than heard.  Shike could see only the light, 
and herself, all else was blackness.
     
     	As she glanced down she found herself without clothing, 
exposing her rare red feline fur in its entirety.  She understood that 
she was having a vision, and so she accepted the odd discomfort 
willingly.

	Shike recalled what she had learned about visions.  They were 
rare, of course.  Her body, as she understood, would be completely 
inert wherever she had "left" it, and she was given an identical 
corporeal form for use in the presence of the entity before her.  It 
was blasphemous to speak before spoken to, and so she waited..
     
     	The ball of light was throbbing faster.  The hum was turning to 
a whine, gradually rising in pitch.  The slow increase-decrease pattern 
sped to a flicker, then seemed to stop entirely.  It was obvious from 
the sound around her it was merely moving faster than she could detect.

     	All was suddenly quiet.  Shike eyed the entity quizzically.  
Perfectly still, perfectly motionless it lay, the diameter about the 
length of her arm.  She couldn't help but associate it with a common 
light bulb, yet at the same time it had infinite majesty about it.  
Perhaps it was just that she knew it was sacred, or maybe that it was 
the glow that somehow filled her with the inward excitement she felt.

     	The sphere before her emitted the sound again.  Clearer, more 
refined, and in the form of a voice.  It was a child-like monotone.  
What it said to her in those seemingly few minutes changed not only her 
life, but the way in which she saw the world about her.

     	"The apocalypse approaches" it droned.

     	The apocalypse..  Almost every religion has its own idea of 
what it was to be.  To some it was viewed as a time when all evil is 
punished, and the good is rewarded.  Others claimed it to be the end of 
civilization all together.

	Shike's religion, called Sidallow, though small a few hundred 
years in the past, grew at a rate whichrate at which astonished all, 
even its own members.  It is now fully, legally and socially, accepted 
as a major religion.  It had a long way to go to compete with some 
others however.

     	The reason the Sidallow grew so quickly is that only members of 
the one religion have ever had visions.  Although very few have ever 
had one, and they're random in nature, it's only the members the one 
group that has them at all.  Many of course saw this as proof that it 
must be the supreme or ideal religion.

     	They have an interesting belief system.  They believe that none 
of the other religions are incorrect so to speak.  There is one god to 
them (Known only as "The One") and one antagonist to that God (Referred 
to as "The Evil").  They believe Catholics are correct, that they 
worship the same entity, but visualize it slightly differently.  
Likewise, they see the many gods of the Wiccan religion as different 
aspects of those two.  This is the way they see all religions: Equal to 
them.

     	So then which apocalypse do they believe in, the savior or the 
damnation?  Sidallows believe both are a possibility, and there's 
likely to be a great strife of some kind between The Evil and The One 
to decide which is to occur.  This belief system is considerably less 
than concise to outsiders.  The two apocalypses are known as the "Holy 
Apocalypse" and the "Black Apocalypse."

	Shike was not yet addressed directly.  She listened, waiting 
for her turn to speak.
     
     	"Sharanahiteyep... " it continued in the same dragging voice.

     	Shike suppressed a gasp.  That was her true name!  Besides the 
actual worship of the gods, personal names were the object of primary 
importance to the Sidallow religion.  Assigned at birth they were known 
only to the child and parents thereof;  They chose their own alias 
almost as soon as they learn to speak (Which leads to some strange 
names).

     	If anybody were to learn and use the name of a Sidallow, that 
person would own the Sidallows soul.  It was a popular trick among 
slave traders to buy drinks for one, then persuade that person to 
divulge his/her true name.  That person would be a willing slave for 
life.  This is why true names are usually difficult to pronounce, and 
impossible to guess, always being unique.  It's also why the control of 
a parent over a child is considered sacred.

     	Finally, if two Sidallows admitted their own names to each 
other, their soul would become one.  It is their form of marriage.  
Both the One and the Evil are said to see all that happens on the 
corporeal plane, and so they know the true names of all mortals.

     	"You may become part of the apocalypse, do you consent?" the 
entity continued.

     	"Such a simple question," she thought.  "Do I  consent?  Can 
anyone simply agree to become part of something they themselves cannot 
hope to understand?  It isn't my place to answer with mine own will..."

     	"Do you wish me to consent?" she asked innocently.

     	"I do."

     	"Than it must be so, for you have spoken my true name."

     	"Then it is so!  I shall part."

     	Shike remembered from her religious education that during a 
vision she was entitled to a single question before the entity leaves 
her.  She chose the one that she most desired the answer to.

     	"What entity are you?"

     	"I am, by Sidallows, called the One."

     	And the entity was gone.  She had not an instant to ponder what 
had occurred.  The One, popularly known as God himself by the majority, 
had chosen to speak to *her*.  The blackness around her had become 
absolute, and soon she could see not even the blackness...